Chao Stories
by Fortuna Draken
Summary: Follow various Chao around Chao Island on adventures! Rivalries, races and karate competitions abound. Rated for possible mild language later on.
1. Chao Introduction

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or anything associated with it! If it comes from the games, I don't own it. **

**The majority of Chao shown in this story are ones I have raised myself in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Others are cameos. The setting for this story is Chao Island in the area it is seen in SA2:B's Stage Select. The description of the Island itself however is mostly my ideas.**

* * *

Chao Island. A small island found just off the coast of the city. Its name comes from the small creatures that live there, Chao.

Chao come in many shapes, sizes and colours. Thousands of the creatures can be on the island at any one time. Some Chao are adopted by Mobians and humans and leave the island.

This story follows various Chao on their adventures on the Island. We begin our story with the birth of two Chao...

* * *

A young chao was trying to get out of his egg, but it was proving hard. The shell was very tough and the young chao was exhausted. Several cracks were running around the shell though, so it couldn't take much more...

The Chao gathered himself and shoved at the widest crack. It split open without warning and the little creature was suddenly sent rolling down a hill. He came to a stop and sat up, eyes rolling around his head.

'Woa...that was crazy. Where am I?' He looked around at this thought. A cliff nearby promised to show a view of the area the little Chao had found himself in.

Crawling over, he sat at the edge and looked over the island. He was looking down on a field that had a racetrack crossing through it. A small pool was at the bottom of the cliff.

There were many areas around the island it seemed. Several red Chao were making their way towards a cliff region, while a path he could see lead to a series of swimming pools where there seemed to be a race being held.

We leave the little Chao for now to focus on the racetrack, where a race was just beginning...

* * *

Rainbow was nervous. She really didn't want to enter this race, but many of the Hero Chao had nominated her for it. She sighed. 'Why me? Why not one of the running Chao? I am so going to lose this...'

The race was known as the Hero Race. These races were a single Hero Chao against seven Dark Chao. The usual combatant for this race was ill, so a ballet had been cast for the new racer. Rainbow suspected she'd been voted in as payback for soundly thrashing most of the Chao in the flying race last week.

The Dark Chao around grinned evilly and jostled her. These were Chao that would not lose. Dark Chao prided themselves on being better than the rest, and she knew it. She would lose this...

An Omochao floated over. "On your marks!"

All eight Chao got themselves ready, waiting for the gun. Omochao pulled the trigger and they were off and running.

The Dark Chao quickly outran Rainbow, but she got them back at the jack-in-the-box. They weren't incredibly smart, Dark Chao. She pulled the trigger and ran on, snickering quietly when several of the others got hit by the jack.

Those that didn't overtook her quickly. All took off flying over the river, and again Rainbow got ahead, not even hitting the water. She wasn't the best climber in the world, so she was again overtaken.

A cry from up ahead made her look up as one of the Dark Chao pushed someone off the cliff down into the river. Wait...that was a youngling! It wouldn't know how to swim!

Ignoring the fact that she'd be instantly disqualified from the race, Rainbow flew down after the young Chao who was being quickly washed downstream.

The young Chao had wandered along the cliff-top, looking down at the river below. He hadn't noticed the race-track, and as such, one of the Dark Chao knocked him aside, straight into the water. He thrashed around, crying for help. When someone grabbed his arms, he held on, looking fearfully down at the water below.

Rainbow landed at the edge of the field the little Chao had seen earlier and looked over the young Chao. He seemed alright, just a little shocked.

"Are you okay?" she asked kindly.

The Chao considered this, then stammered, "I...I think so." He looked at his rescuer.

A white Chao with purple markings, the older Chao had a double pair of red-orange feathered wings. Her tail was similarly feathered, and a crest was on her head, resting between her eyes. She had four purple feeler type things on top of her head. A gold halo hovered over her head.

The halo confused the new-born Chao. He knew he had an emote-ball, but didn't know that the ball could change shapes. He pointed to it, "How comes you got a halo?"

"Hmm?" Rainbow looked up, and then laughed a little. "You must be recently born. A halo means that I am a Hero Chao."

The youngster was even more confused. "Hero?"

She nodded. "There are three categories of Chao you see. All Chao start life as neutral Chao. They have emote-balls like yours." He looked up at it. "After evolving, sometime the emote-ball changes. A halo means a Hero Chao. The ball is for neutral Chao. A spiked ball is for Dark Chao."

The little Chao thought about this. "Dark Chao..."

Rainbow held out her hand. "Come, I'll show you the island and tell you about the kinds of Chao. Then we'll go meet my friend Comet."

The little Chao nodded and got to his feet unsteadily, and took her hand, toddling after Rainbow as she helped him along.

* * *

On the other side of the island, another Chao had just been born. He was currently surrounded by Dark Chao, having stumbled into the Dark Power area they claimed. These Chao were nasty and weren't going to let him go easily.

The frightened Chao backed up against a tree, surrounded by bigger Chao. The biggest Chao covered in orange stripes was obviously the leader and was readying himself to pound the younger Chao. He wound his arm back and leered evilly at the young Chao. "Now you'll find out what happens to those who wander into our area uninvited."

The little Chao covered his face and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to fall.

It never did.

The Chao opened one eye, then both, curious as to what had happened. The gang were all staring at the Chao behind their leader. The big Chao glared at the smaller black-and-aqua Chao holding his arm still. "You...let go if you know what's god for you, quill-girl."

The new Chao was black in colour, but had aqua markings on the bottom of her head, belly and arms, and on top of two spines on her head. "I don't think so Markeye. You should know better than to try and hurt a young Chao."

The leader, Markeye, pulled his arm back from her, then muttered, "Come on you lot...I'll get you at the karate comp later, quill-girl."

The young Chao stared as the Chao disappeared. The aqua Chao remained and looked over him. "So...you should know from now that this place isn't a good place to hang around."

The Chao winced. "I diddna know, I swear!"

She sighed. "Come on then...I'll take you back to my spot..."

She started to walk off, the young Chao determinedly crawling after her.

"Here...you should be fine here."

'Here' was a small glade in the forested area of the island. The aqua Chao went in the water and swam out into the middle of the water, ignoring the younger Chao.

He shivered, then spotted some fruit nearby and picked one up and sniffed it suspiciously. Was it alright to eat it?

"You can eat it you know. Aquilla generally doesn't poison her food."

The Chao jumped and spun around to see a purple Chao walk over and sit near the fruit. Sweeping one of her two crooked jesters out of her face, she helped herself. The new Chao watched as the young Chao immediately started eating as if he was starving. She grinned and continued to eat, startled a second later as the newborn Chao asked a question.

"Why is she out there alone?"

The purple Chao looked out at the swimming Chao. "Aquilla? Well, she's a bit of a loner. She's not really good with strangers."

The Chao had fruit all over his mouth. "Aquilla? What's your name?"

The purple Chao grinned. "Me, I'm Melody. Melody the Dark flying Chao."

"Flying?"

"You don't know the different types of Chao? Ho boy. Well, there's the three main types, Hero, Neutral and Dark, and then there's the 5 different types..."

* * *

"You see, there's those kinds of Chao who don't have any particular type. They're just known as Dark, Hero or Neutral Chao."

Rainbow and her charge were eating fruit under a tree near one of the main pools. She was telling him about the types of Chao, a lecture remarkably similar to one a purple Chao was telling on the other side of the island.

"Then you've got the 4 types, Fly, Swim, Power and Run. Each Chao-type looks different from the others, and Chao so the same type but different classes will look different."

The young Chao was watching a race nearby. The runners were winding around the pool at incredible speeds, to the cheers of the onlookers. Rainbow watched them as well.

"Those are the Run Chao. Most of their kind adore racing. Dark and Hero Run Chao often race. There's a score-board at the stadium showing the win-lose ratio of Hero to Dark."

A crash nearby attracted their attention. Several Chao were pounding away at rocks. They had round emote-balls, indicating that they were Neutral Chao. All were red in colour, though of varying intensities.

"Those are the Power Chao. They help out when heavy objects need to be moved or destroyed. They can climb cliffs faster than any other kind of Chao, and tend to dominate the karate competitions. They don't really associate with other kinds of Chao.

"Down there in the water are the Swim Chao. They adore swimming more than anything and they value courage in the water above all." The newborn Chao shuddered. He didn't think he would become a Swim type Chao, that was for sure!

"And last are the Fly Chao. Flying is the best, being able to soar over everything and look down on the island and see that everyone looks like ants. I'm a Fly type Chao, in case you were wondering," she finished.

The newborn was watching the races again. He jumped when Rainbow stood and stretched. "You're going to have to get yourself a name soon."

He thought about this. He needed a good name...he had liked the look of the Run Chao, maybe he needed a fast name. Hmm...

A flash of light as an Omochao's gun went off. Wait, light was fast. A flash of light.

He grinned. "My name is Flash!"

* * *

"...And that's the types of Chao. I'm a Fly type Chao, and Aquilla is a Swim type Chao. She's actually the record holder for the fastest time swimming the Crab Lake track."

The little Chao looked at Aquilla in awe. The Dark/Swim Chao was still swimming, but was doing laps now, tearing through the water with ease.

Melody looked at the Chao and noticed his fur was turning darker. 'Heh, he'll be a Dark Chao, mark my words.'

Out loud she said, "You need a name. You should think of one soon, little dark Chao."

He looked up, confused. His emote-ball had turned into a question mark. Melody grinned. "Looks at your fur. You've gone a shade darker."

He noticed it then. A name...wait, what had Melody just said? A shade darker...

Shade...he liked that. "Shade," he announced. Melody looked at him. Neither noticed Aquilla listening from the water's edge. "My name is Shade!"


	2. Old Rivalries

Flash woke to noise. He blinked tiredly, then sat up and stretched. And froze. There were lots of Chao around, like usual, but now...

There were big creatures _everywhere_!

Flash stared. Some of the creatures were only around 3 feet tall, about three adult Chao stacked on end. These were odd shaped and varied in colour. Then there were the taller ones. Around 5 feet, they didn't seem to have fur and wore clothes. All of the creatures were chatting to the Chao, and most has one or two very happy Chao hanging off them.

Flash shivered and backed up behind a tree. Where was Rainbow? "Ra-Rainbow? Where are you?"

An adult Chao heard. "Rainbow? Oh hey, you must be that Chao she saved during the big race!"

Flash looked at the approaching Chao. A white Chao, he was reflecting the light very well. He had two feelers that were bent in places and two smaller, feathery looking ones. Another young Chao was hidden behind him, watching everything.

The adult Chao grinned. "Hey there. I'm Comet, one of Rain's friends."

"I-I'm Flash," Flash stammered. "What's going on? Who are all those creatures? Where's Rainbow?"

Comet looked out at the taller creatures, the baby Chao hiding behind him, eyes on Flash. "Oh, you worried about the Mobians and humans too? Don't worry. Rainbow's currently at the stadium, explaining about the race she threw yesterday to save you."

Flash looked slightly ashamed at this and cautiously approached the shiny white Chao. "What're Mo...Mobins?"

Comet laughed. "Mo-bi-ans. Mobians are those creatures down there with the fur, feathers and scales. They and the humans (the furless ones) are guardians of some of the Chao."

"Guardians?"

"Yeah, see some of them have adopted Chao. Those with enough money take the Chao to their homes and take care of them away from the island. Those who can't come here on set days to visit their Chao and take them on visits away from the island."

Flash thought about this. "Do you have a guardian?"

Comet shook his head. "Nah, guardians are usually more interested in the normal coloured Chao. Monotones like me aren't usually adopted, thought sometimes we are. Rainbow doesn't have a guardian either"

The baby Chao nearby spoke up quietly, "Will we get guardians?"

Flash looked at him. He looked exactly like Flash, but his fur seemed to be turning white and the yellow highlights on his hands and feet were going blue.

"You won't get guardians till you've evolved Aquaris," Comet assured the little Chao. "Unless you've got a bond to a Mobian or human, you can't be adopted till you've evolved."

Flash and Aquaris were both confused. It showed in their emote-balls, which were currently question-marks. "Bond?"

"When a Chao hatches and it sees a Mobian or human immediately, or soon after birth, they bond to that person. Chao who bond to humans grow like normal Chao, but when those bonded to Mobians evolve they tend to look just like the Mobian they saw."

Aquaris noticed one then. A white Mobian cat had just been tackled by her Chao, who was white with a cat tail and ears, and also had a fringe like his mistress'. "Like that one?"

Comet looked over. "Yeah, that's Albino. He hatched and immediately saw Kris and when he evolved, looked just like her. Oh, all bonded Chao have neutral emote-balls by the way."

* * *

Shade was watching the Mobians down below. He hadn't seen Aquilla since he woke up and Melody had flown down to see her guardian. Shade hadn't wanted to go, so he was sitting at the top of a cliff watching.

A commotion broke out then. Shade looked over several Chao of various kinds all ran over. Shade climbed down carefully and walked over slowly (he hadn't got the hang of walking perfectly just yet).

"What's going on?" he asked. A Neutral Swim Chao turned and noticed him.

"It's crazy! Apparently a special race is going to be held between a Hero and Dark Chao because the last race was considered void due to a young Chao needing to be rescued."

Shade blinked. "But why is everyone so interested?"

The Swim Chao pointed to the poster a Hero Run Chao was waving around. "Because it's going to be held between two Chao that haven't raced each other in years. The Hero Chao is a Fly Chao, and the other is a Dark Swim Chao. The Hero Chao is Rainbow and the other...I think her name was Aquilla."

* * *

"Comet!"

The shiny White Chao turned, waving to a Hero Swim Chao down below. "What's up Aquis?"

"You won't believe it! Rainbow's racing Aquilla!"

Flash spun, startled. Aquaris watched Comet, whose face had gone, if possible, whiter than usual.

"What? Why on Mobius are those two racing? Come on you two, we gotta get to the stadium!"

* * *

Rainbow sighed. Why was it a swim track? Sure, she could fly over most of it, but if she fell in the water, it was going to be hard going...especially against her. Rainbow could swear the Chao gods were against her at the moment.

Aquilla stretched, ready for the race. "So Rainbow..." The Hero Chao turned around. "I hope you're ready to lose. I am not going to lose when my record is at stake."

Rainbow sighed. Dark Chao, always worried about the record. "Aquilla, I don't even want to race! Why would I try and beat your record anyway? You swim better than I ever could."

"I hope you don't mean that you're not going to try, Hero Chao. I want a serious race. After all, it has been a year or so since we last raced like this." Aquilla said offhandedly. Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

"Alright, fine. Have it your way. But don't come complaining to me when you lose!"

Aquilla grinned. "That's more like it! But I won't lose."

Shade wormed his way into the Stadium, managing to get a spot near the lake. There were two Hero Chao and some younger Chao nearby, but he didn't care. He was watching Aquilla talk to the Hero Chao.

He jumped when one of the younger Chao suddenly cheered, "Come on Rainbow! You can beat her!" The Hero Chao turned and waved.

Shade rubbed his ear. "Hey, watch where you're yelling! I think I've gone deaf."

The other chao looked startled. "Uh...sorry."

Shade huffed. "It doesn't matter...besides, your friend won't win."

"What? Why not?"

"That's easy," Shade proclaimed, grinning confidently. "That's because Aquilla's gunna win!"

One of the older Chao came over. He was an eye-smarting white, reflecting the light. "Flash come on, you'll get wet so close to the lake." He looked at Shade, taking not of the little Chao's darker fur. "You'd best move back too."

Flash threw a glare at Shade, then followed Comet. Shade scowled. Hero Chao...Aquilla'd show them! He moved back though. The Omochao called out then.

"On your marks!"

Aquilla and Rainbow both readied themselves. It was a short run to the water's edge to start with, before the lake.

The gun sounded and both took off, the crowd cheering madly. The edge of the lake came up. Aquilla flew down instantly into the water and started swimming her hardest. Rainbow on the other hand jumped and took off, flying over the water.

Aquilla tore through the water, glaring at her flying rival who was getting ahead. Still...Rainbow would land in the water eventually, and then!

Rainbow was flying her hardest and was half-way across already. However, she was going to hit the water soon and Aquilla was catching up. Cursed short track! She hit the water then and started swimming. However, while she was an able swimmer, she wasn't as good as Aquilla who was catching up fast. She was close to shore though. All she had to do was make it there...

Aquilla tore through the water, determined to catch up before Rainbow made it to the land. She was almost equal with her...

Shade watched intently while Flash covered his eyes. "I can't watch!"

Comet and Aquis cheered for Rainbow all the way, Aquaris watching Aquilla. Boy she could swim...

The cheering stopped, or rather, the Hero Chao stopped. The Dark Chao were in an uproar, cheering madly. Flash uncovered one eye. "Is it over?"

Comet nodded. "Aquilla just passed her. That's why all the Dark Chao are so excited."

Flash sighed, looking forlorn. Shade sent him a victorious smirk, causing Flash to growl and turn several shades lighter in colour. Aquaris noticed, but said nothing. Those two would become rivals, he thought.

The day drew to a close. Flash, Comet and Aquaris met Rainbow outside the stadium. She was towelling her wings dry. "Hi guys."

Flash seemed down while Comet patted Rainbow on the back. "You did your best, and that was one heck of a race!"

Rainbow looked at Flash. "Something wrong Flash?"

He looked up, startled. "What? Oh, no. Just that other Chao..."

Comet and Rainbow exchanged a look. This could be interesting, especially with the Young Chao Tournament just around the corner...


	3. Reincarnation and Dual Typings

"Don't want to go. Don't want to go!"

"Flash, you have to, now come on!"

The sun was shining over Chao Island and there was not a cloud in the sky. You could almost see the heat rising from the ground. Perfect racing conditions.

However Rainbow seemed to be putting a bit of a downed on Flash, who had wanted to go and try racing on the race track, seeing as most of the Chao were away with their guardians and the rest were sleeping out of the sun. The Hero chao had hold of Flash's paw and was pulling him determinedly towards the Chao Kindergarten.

The small blue-white chao scowled. "Why do I have ta go?"

Rainbow stopped for a minute panting, but not letting him go. "Because all baby chao have to get registered by the principal so potential guardians can look at those they might want to adopt."

Flash blinked. "I thought we wouldn't get adopted until we'd evolved?"

"You won't. The records get updated as you grow and it's too hard to try and record all the adult chao, what with us reincarnating all the time.

"Re-wadda?"

Rainbow let go and moved off towards the Kindergarten, Flash following now he was interested. "Re-in-car-nation. It's what happens when you die."

"D-die?" the young chao stammered, alarmed. Rainbow laughed.

"Yes, die. When a chao gets too old to continue on with life, they enter a cocoon, similar to evolving. They then transform back into an egg and are re-born. Sometimes they'll die, if they're really old or hurt badly. But mostly they reincarnate."

Flash though about this. "Do you 'member stuff from before?" Rainbow nodded, watching the little chao think. He glanced up at her. "Have YOU ever reincarnated?"

"Me? No, I haven't. I'm a little too young to have, I'm only 2 years old. Chao usually reincarnate when they turn 5 or 6, longer if they've bonded to a human or Mobian. Here we are."

The Kindergarten was a big building near the lakes. Flash looked around, it seemed a few other young chao were also getting recorded. Rainbow spied Comet talking to someone and made a bee-line for him. Flash padded after and looked at the white and blue chao behind him.

"Hey guys," Comet said. The little white-and-blue chao waved. Flash tilted his head and Rainbow giggled.

"This isn't little Aquaris is it?" she asked. Flash started, looking up at her then back to the baby chao as he nodded.

"What happened to you? You've gone all funny coloured...and got those two little bumps!" Flash commented. Aquaris shrugged.

"I dunno...just sorta happened over time."

Comet explained. "Aquaris has Hero traits about him. By the looks of your light blue fur Flash, I'd say you do too." Flash looked down at his lighter fur in alarm. Comet chuckled. "It's nothing serious, it just means when you evolve, you'll be Hero Chao!"

Flash and Aquaris exchanged awed looks. Rainbow exchanged a grin with Comet. The two acted just like they had when they were younger. A green neutral chao tapped Rainbow on the shoulder then. She turned and gasped. "Silver! You've gone Neutral on us!"

The two younger chao looked up as the green chao chuckled. "Aww, I can't help it. My guardian reckons I look better in green anyway."

Aquaris tugged on Comet's arm. "What'd Rainbow mean?"

"Well, when you reincarnate and evolve again, sometimes you can change classes too. Last time I saw Silver he was a Hero Swim/Run type chao."

"Swim/Run?"

"I'll explain later. Come on you two, let those two normal coloured's talk, we need to get you registered."

* * *

Shade was skimming rocks over the lake, having been registered the day before. Melody watched him.

"Hey Melody...is my fur totally black yet?" he asked suddenly, turning to the purple chao. She swept an eye over him.

"Mmm...almost. Your tip's gone jaggered, like the baby Dark's and the adult Darks. You'll be a Dark Chao, I'll bet. You're also getting two little bumps near the back of your head."

Shade felt for them and wondered what they meant. He paused for a second. "Melody...why do Rainbow and Aquilla act so...oddly to each other?"

The fly chao sighed. "They're rivals. Have been since they were born."

"But why?"

"Well..." She thought for a minute, "Mostly it's because fly and swim chao don't always get along...swim chao dislike fliers flying over the water instead of swimming...call them cowards. Pfft." She picked up a fruit and took a bite out of it before continuing. "But mostly it's because they're sisters."

"What?"

* * *

"What? What'd you mean, sisters?"

Comet laughed. The older chao was looking after the two, having just gotten them registered. "I mean sisters. They have the same parents. They were never really close, but the punch line was when Aquilla started showing Dark traits, opposite to Rain's Hero. They haven't really talked after that."

"Wow..." the baby chao looked to one another. They found it hard to imagine what it would have been like, having a sister or brother the opposite class to them.

The shiny white chao stretched out. "Say, the Young Chao Tournament is coming up soon. We might have to get you guys training!"

Aquaris groaned. "I don't wanna race..."

Flash, on the other hand, cheered. "Yes! I might just get to show that little dark chao a thing or two!"

Rainbow found them later. Comet was watching Flash tear around the race track while Aquaris was floating in the shallow water of the lake. She wandered down, sitting next to Comet and watched Aquaris before saying softly, "You don't want to race, I hear?"

Aquaris jumped slightly. "Oh...no, not really. I like swimming better than racing..."

Rainbow nodded thoughtfully. "Well, there usually is several adult chao races on the same day...maybe I can get you to help me set them up instead?"

The white-blue chao squeaked slightly. "Well, um, uh, sure! I'll do it!" Rainbow giggled and watched Flash, noticing the bump between the Hero-trait antennas that were slowly growing on his head. She pointed it out to Comet.

"I noticed it," the white chao said. "Seems young Flash will be a Run type chao." He got up, Rainbow looking up to him. "I feel like a swim..." he said, stretching then jumping into the lake, making Aquaris duck. He set off to do some laps.

Aquaris paddled over to Rainbow. "Hey Rainbow...Comet said something earlier...about a chao being a Swim/Run chao?"

Rainbow looked to the little chao. "Ahh, the dual types...you see Aquaris, after a chao evolves it has a type, right?" He nodded. "After a chao evolves into their type, they slowly continue to change over time. Sometimes though as they change, they reflect a different typing to what they were originally. Comet himself is one."

Aquaris blinked and looked at the white chao. "Really?"

"Yup. When Comet evolved he was a Hero Fly chao, like me. However over time, we both evolved and ended up looking different. I say I'm a Hero Fly chao, but technically I'm a Hero Fly/Fly type!"

Aquaris blinked and his mouth made a little 'o'. "What's Comet then?"

"Comet's a Hero Fly/Swim type. He always did love swimming, so it was a slight surprise when he evolved to be a fly type. But that love had to show itself sometime and it did when he evolved over time."

* * *

Shade nodded slowly. "So...you can have two types? What're you Melody? And what's Aquilla?"

The purple chao chuckled. "I'm just a Fly/Fly type. As for Aquilla..." The purple chao paused. "No one actually knows. You see, Aquilla is older than I am, but she never evolved into a second type...once she looked a bit greener than normal, which is the start of a Swim/Power typing...but the next day she was back to normal."

Shade thought on this. "I think I want to stay one type...I don't want to change after I evolve."

Melody watched him wander off after he spoke. "Hmm...that's the same attitude Aquilla had...maybe he will be the same as her..."


End file.
